Visiting Ocean Township on Sunday to campaign for his friend, Democratic New Jersey governor nominee Phil Murphy, Gore told the crowd of hundreds that he had a messages for them "based on my personal experience."

"If anybody here is tempted to think for one minute that every vote doesn't count ..." the former vice president began.

He won the popular vote by 543,000 votes, but the Electoral College was so close that it triggered a contentious recount in Florida that wasn't ended until the U.S. Supreme Court stepped in and handed the race to Bush. Gore lost by 5 electoral votes.

Hence, Gore's plea for Murphy supporters not to let the same thing happen in the race against Republican nominee Kim Guadagnoto succeed Gov. Chris Christie on Nov. 7.

"Your vote counts!" Gore pleaded. "Every vote counts! Register to vote and then vote. And get your neighbors to register. Ad your friends. And get all of them to vote."

Murphy, a former U.S. ambassador to Germany and longtime Democratic donor who has been friends with Gore for years, made a reference to the 2000 race when he introduced the former vice president on Sunday.

One day, Murphy said, there will be a "big chapter" of history books that will explore "what kind of a country we would have been had he not had the presidency stolen" from Gore.

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